Amnesty International’s State of the World’s Human Rights report for 2017/18 delivers a comprehensive analysis of the state of human rights in 159 countries

New Delhi: “The world is reaping the terrifying consequences of hate-filled rhetoric which threatens to normalize massive discrimination against marginalized groups. For South Asia, 2017 marked the continuing shrinking of civic space and human rights defenders being publicly demonized.” With these warnings, Amnesty Internationals launched its annual assessment of human rights today.

The State of the World’s Human Rights, covers 159 countries and delivers a comprehensive analysis of the state of human rights in the world today.

The report highlights how world leaders have abandoned human rights and how state sponsored hate has encouraged new era of social activism. Signs of regression cited in the report include clampdowns on rights to protest in France, attempts to roll back women’s rights from the USA to Russia and Poland.

Commenting on the South Asian scenario, Biraj Patnaik, Amnesty International’s South Asia Director, talked about how the governments here have invoked law and order, and national security by engaging in criminalizing freedom of expression and subjecting civil societies to a campaign of intimidation, threats, smears and violence.

Speaking on whether there is any hope left for positive development of human rights, Minar Pimple, Senior Director of Global Operations at Amnesty International, cited the example of #MeToo campaign on social media and how it has opened up people to talk about discrimination and sexual harassment they have faced . He further argued that there is a growing movement of both first-time and seasoned activists campaigning for social justice which provides a real hope of reversing the slide towards oppression.

Regressive policies have inspired many people to join long standing struggles and the report details many important victories that human rights activists helped to secure. These include lifting the total abortion ban in Chile, achieving a step towards marriage equality in Taiwan and securing a landmark victory against forced evictions in Abuja, Nigeria.

While the findings remain shocking, it is the events such as those highlighted in the report that motivate people across the world to stand up in the face of adversity and make their voices heard.